Feuds ignite ahead of Muscle Bomber Meltdown! Victor Ortega pushes the Commissioner too far; The Wraith continues his dark path; and a shocking alliance is revealed that could reshape the Tag titles!

It was hot in the old town as Slam Masters kicked off live
in Metro City, but there was a distinct chill inside the CWA
arena with the continuing escalation of bizarre activity surrounding
The Wraith. It was last
week on Slam Masters that the dark Muscle Bomber claimed his
third victim, the legendary luchadore, El Stinger.
Anticipation was high for another confrontation between the Wraith and
Stinger's recent allies, El Fuerte and
Rainbow Mika.The Duo division had plenty of other
heat surrounding it, particularly with Zangief
and Aleksey Zalazof emerging as possible rivals to
Alex and Lucky Colt in the quest to
claim the CWA Tag Team Championship.

The show kicked off backstage with the parking lot arrival of one
of Metro City's favourite sons and current CWA Commissioner,
Mike Haggar. The Macho Mayor marched proudly toward
the arena when CWA Heavyweight Champion, Victor
Ortega, emerged to assault him in what seemed to be a
premeditated attack! Ortega stomped on the fallen Commissioner, giving
few clues as to exactly what his intentions were, other than to
humiliate and physically beat the retired Muscle Bomber. Ortega held
the Heavyweight championship over a beaten Haggar, before leaving
arriving officials to check on his well being.

Kimala versus King Rasta GomesRasta Gomes was showing signs of physical and mental injuries
sustained during his hardcore match last
week against Sheep the Royal. Without the presence of his monkey
manager, it seemed Gomes was losing coherrency. After finally making
his way to the ring for singles competition, it was to be an
unceremonious beating for the wild man. Kimala was as sadistic as
ever, taking a methodical pace as he drove Gomes' body into the mat
with repeated powerslams. A big splash put the finishing touches on a
sickening exhibition.Winner: Kimala the Bouncer

In the arena offices, Mike Haggar was joined by
his former student and popular Muscle Bomber, Aleksey
Zalazof. Haggar, holding an ice pack to the back of his head,
dismissed the Russian's concern, coaching him to get his head back in
the game because he was being schedule in an exhibition match against
Tag Team Championship contenders, Lucky Colt &
Alex. The "Uncivil Servant" instructed that
a victory would help him more than confronting
Ortega, who would be forced to pay for his actions in
due course.

In the ring; a clearly distraught Rainbow
Mika and El Fuerte made their way out for a challenge.They denounced the actions of The Wraith and his
followers, demanding they come out and face them. Darkness throughout
the arena signalled an answer as The Wraith paced steadily to the ring
accompanied by his part-time partner, Black Widow. It
was seemingly circumstantial booking that had brought Wraith and Widow
together at the CWA comeback event, The
International Blowout, but now the Widow appeared to be playing
a much larger role in the dark machinations of Wraith. With their
silent enemies now in the ring with them, Mika & Fuerte offered a
challenge that determined if they won a tag team match tonight, the
abducted El Stinger would be returned to them
unharmed. By retreating to a corner, The Wraith appeared to agree.

TAG TEAM MATCHRainbow Mika & El Fuerte versus Black
Widow & The WraithThe Widow posed a slightly less intimidating figure than his 7'
partner, but still his bizarre style of agility and contortion had
Mika on the back foot. Mika's attempts to grapple were met with
strange archs that allowed the Widow to twist his legs into powerful
kicks. Like a tilt-a-whirl, the Black Widow spun Mika into oblivion,
forcing the tag. Fuerte went straight to a lucha strategum, using the
ropes to fling himself like a human bullet. A crossbody only provided
further opportunity for Black Widow to twist, resulting in a
convoluted counter attack into a Mexican surf hold.El Fuerte was
fortunately able to power out of the move, scoring an inadvertent
lowblow from a ricocheted baseball slide. The move didn't appear to
phase Black Widow at all, however, who utilized the ropes in a very
different way to tax El Fuerte's limbs with a hung crab lock. Referee
Harry Hicks forced the controversial hold to break, sending El Fuerte
scrambling back to his corner for the tag, while The Wraith remained
silent and unmoved by the events.

Rainbow Mika made valiant attempts to capitalize on any advantage
El Fuerte might've earned, but even a dubious inverted atomic drop
failed to sufficiently slow Black Widow. Fatigue had a part to play,
but even as Mika followed chop blocks with an ascension to the top
rope, the Widow was still able to roll out of the way of a shooting
star peach, leaving the impact to be absorbed by Mika.
Proximity gave Mika the desperation tag, but El Fuerte ran right back
into a modified crucifix. Finally the Wraith extended his arm to
accept a tag, entering with apparent sinister intentions. He dropped
El Fuerte with a tombstone piledriver, before beginning his strange
ritualistic attack of the soul. R. Mika interrupted the moment, but
suffered a goozle for her troubles.Winners: The Wraith & Black Widow

The Wraith resumed his bizarre ritual over El
Fuerte's defeated body, but as he did, Sheep the
Royal burst from the entrance chasing Rasta Gomes' monkey
manager, Freak! Freak charged to the ring, leading
Sheep into the path of The Wraith and Black Widow, who opted to
leave the ring the opposite way without El Fuerte. Why they
chose to do this, and exactly what had prompted Sheep's early arrival,
remain as much a mystery as the fate of El Stinger,
who has not been seen since suffering the strange ritual of The Wraith
on the last
Slam Masters!

Birdie versus Sheep the Royal (w/ Freak)Though his entrance had come far too early for the match, Sheep
was apparently scheduled for an encounter with the British
brawler, Birdie! Birdie entered the arena without the accompaniment of
his tag partner, Titanic Tim, leading to further speculation about the
status of their relationship.

The two big men displayed a very different blend of styles to the
previous match, relying more on barroom brawling tactics than any
finesse or technique. Birdie's mohawk took a little punishment as
Sheep looked for a piledriver, buying some space for the rugby royal.
It was not to be the victory Sheep anticipated however, with
Rasta Gomes hobbling his way to the ring on a crutch to spoil
proceedings. Try though Sheep did to talk the wildman down, the crutch
was broken over his head, resulting in a disqualification victory
against Birdie. The punk rocker was less than pleased, but
despite taking Gomes down with a chain shot, it seemed Birdie was far
from done. With his tag team partner nowhere to be seen, Birdie might
very well blame Titanic Tim for not being there to watch his back!Winner: Sheep the Royal (via Disqualification)

Darun Mister made his way to the ring next with a
special announcement concerning his plans as #1
Contender to the CWA Heavyweight Championship. Mister
talked about the long career that earned him mythic status in his
native India and once again lamented on what it would mean to finally
pit his legend against the Russian Red Cyclone,
Zangief. As in recent weeks, he inferred
that the current-champion, Victor Ortega,
was a short-lived phenomenon unworthy of legendary
status, declaring that a championship victory would result in an
immediate open-challenge to Zangief so that they could finally
actually face each other one-on-one.

Victor Ortega interrupted the #1 Contender's moment
to literally come face-to-face with the man he would fight at
CWA: Muscle Bomber Meltdown. Ortega held the
championship belt up, bringing it between their faces before turning
his back on Darun Mister. The champion mocked Mister's fixation with a
man he'd already defeated, promising that he would make sure Mister
got what he wanted, and joined Zangief on the list of "humiliated
losers." He acknowledged that he at least admired Mister for
continuing to recognise his desire to fight, unlike Mike
Haggar. It didn't take the Commissioner long to emerge at the
entrance himself! Haggar threatened Ortega with suspension, but the
champion only followed up his recent threats to leave and take the
belt with him to find better competition. Ortega antagonised further,
challenging the Commissioner to fight him like he clearly wanted to.
Provoked, but always cool under pressure, Haggar gave Ortega the fight
he wanted -- by forcing him to defend his Heavyweight
Championship right then and there against Darun!

HEAVWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHDarun Mister versus Victor
Ortega (c)The atmosphere was electric not only
for an early taste of the Meltdown action, but for the long
awaited clash of these two Muscle Bombers whose comeback
careers have yet to include being pinned. As much as Ortega
had disrespected Darun Mister over the past month, he was in no rush
to break the methodical pace that started this spontaneous
championship match-up. The two titans of the ring circled like
predators in the wild before locking up, the jostling apparently
ending in a stalemate. A second attempt saw a rolling succession of
waistlocks, and when Mister looked for a hip toss to break the
pattern, Ortega was able to grab the top rope to block the attempt.

Each Muscle Bomber returned to a neutral corner while the crowd
bayed for action.Ortega flashed a sinister smile to the crowd with
a tap of his temple, suggesting perhaps the indomitable champion had
merely been indulging the challenger. His actions, leading him to
charge into a snapping belly to belly suplex, suggested
otherwise, however. Mister took full intiative, locking in a camel
clutch on the fallen champ. Any other Muscle Bomber would've been in
trouble, but Ortega's inhuman power allowed him to fight through the
pain and shake Mister off his back! Returning to a vertical base, the
champ tossed Mister over the top rope, taking the fight to foreign
territory for Mister -- a traditionalist at heart.

Despite the unsavory conditions, Mister did well to indulge
the outside brawling. Even so, Ortega's penchant for
"inadvertent" use of ringside scenery as weapons
clearly began to tip the scales. As the action returned to the ring,
Ortega shook off warnings from referee Harry Hicks, unrelenting in his
pursuit of an undefeated streak. He thundered a floored Mister with
stomps and forearm drops, challenging Mister's verticality by sheer
force, rather than technique. He allowed the challenger to stand only
on his own terms, hitting powerful moves like a double underhook
powerbomb. Though Mister was able to resist several pinning attempts,
the conclusion appeared academic. With the title on the line, the
fight would never leave Mister, but Ortega's strategy had paid off.
Back strain made a Mister piledriver vulnerable to counterattack,
eventuating in a modified powerslam and pin.Winner and still CWA Heavyweight Champion: Victor Ortega

Despite an air of controversy surrounding Ortega's garbage
wrestling tactics, the defending champion gladly received his title,
as well as a microphone. With Darun Mister left to lick his
wounds to the side, Ortega jumped on his victory, announcing it as
further proof of the total lack of competition in CWA. Pointing his
finger accusingly toward the empty entrance, he called for
Mike Haggar to stop being a coward and come and
face him. Holding the title belt over his head, Ortega received no
answer, much like fans, who now had to ponder who could possibly end
the undefeated reign of Victor Ortega.

Backstage, the interview trench featured top contenders to the Tag
Team titles, Lucky Colt and Alex.
The Muscle Bomber Duo were on hand to answer questions ahead of their
main event clash with the newly formed tandem of
Zangief and Aleksey Zalazof. Colt -
an old rival of Zalazof's - did most of the talking, relishing the
opportunity to assert superiority over two former Heavyweight title
contenders. He described Zangief as a smart choice of partner for
Zalazof, whose win/loss record had been less than impressive during
the comeback era. His tone was playful, ending with affirmation that,
unlike Darun Mister, they would not jeopardize their title shot at
Muscle Bomber Meltdown on July 26th.

TAG TEAM MATCHAleksey Zalazof & Zangief versus Alex
& Lucky ColtWith four of the most popular face wrestlers in CWA together in
the ring at one time, the crowd was brimming with enthusiasm, if not
some feelings of conflict. Alex & Colt could not lose their title
shot in a loss, but there was a clear sense that Zalazof & Zangief
had the potential to disrupt the rhytm that had guided the
title-bound pair to a streak comparable to that of Victor Ortega's!

Zalazof and Alex started the action, the pair an eerie mirror of
each other. Alex was perhaps the slightly stronger of the two, while
Zalazof gained a slight edge of speed from being a little less bulky.
Never the less, when the pair finally tied up, it was a remarkably
even ball game! Alex found initial luck, stepping in to a hammerlock
before Zalazof was able to break for the ropes. He ricocheted back,
striking with a clean lariat. Despite having spent the better part of
six months as rivals, it looked as if continuity wouldn't be a problem
for the tagging Russians. Zangief entered with his own pace of hard
body shots, scoring big with a German suplex. Another tag returned
Zalazof to the fight, but a front facelock gave Alex opportunity to
hit a vertical suplex, giving him a chance for a tag of his own.

Colt and Zalazof had an obvious chemistry, indicated by
Colt's enthusiasm to get in. He delivered a series of slams, a Russian
legsweep delivered with some irony. On the mat, he attempted a modifed
leg lock, but was unable to force his rival to tap out. The situation
created another tag opportunity, bringing Alex back into the match. He
favoured grappling over mat holds, creating a powerslam an irish whip.
Despite the impact, it was too soon for a cover, leading the Russian
to kick out at a short two count. He was able to fight out of a side
headlock, sending Alex into the ropes to meet a standing dropkick.
Zalazof was then able to dive to his corner, picking up a much needed
tag from Zangief. The Red Cyclone entered with victory in mind,
attacking with the 360 lariat! When he exited the move, however, a
very different script was about to unfold.

With no warning -- Sodom, Hugo, Kimala, Mysterious Budo, and Astro
charged the ring!The tag champs and Mad Gear attacked all four
competing men, descriminating against no one!With fatigue playing it's part in the scenario, the five-on-four
clash could only advantage the assailants whose numerical advantage
allowed Astro to direct the carnage whilst also partaking in it.
Referee Harry Hicks could do little more than cancel the match,
watching the chaos unfold.Winners: Draw (No Contest)

On a night when the championship was forced to be defended, it
seemed inconceivable that anything could overshadow that. However, as
Alex, Lucky Colt,
Zangief, and Zalazof, all lay
unconscious in the ring, it seemed it was the shock celebrations of
Tag Team Champions, Astro, Mysterious
Budo, their bouncer, Kimala, and the Mad
Gear combination of Sodom and Hugo
Andore, that had shocked the Muscle Bomber universe. Exactly
what their actions signalled, and whether or not this was an act of
alliance, would be a question for next week's Slam Masters -- the last
before the titles go on the line at the July 26 special event,
CWA: Muscle Bomber Meltdown!

Also on the agenda next week -- Who will Victor
Ortega face now that he has successfully defeated the
official #1 contender? What ill effects have been dealt by The
Wraith's dark arts to El Fuerte and
R. Mika? What new levels of insanity will emerge
from Rasta Gomes as he pursues Sheep the
Royal? And what sinister machinations has
Astro been hatching all along?